“Now what?”

“Now you feed it to the phoenix and tell it who you wish it delivered to. A phoenix is a messenger, with the unique ability to find anyone whose essence it has tasted at least once. Every phoenix here has been fed essential essences.”

“Even yours?”

“Even mine,” Uriel said. “I’ve been the contact for the Dominus for a while. Hold out the scrolls to the bird and say the recipient’s name, and the phoenix will find him.”

Okay. I stepped forward and held out the scroll. “Please take this to Conah, blood of Lilith.”

The phoenix blinked lazily, and then its head shot forward, and the scroll was gone. It launched itself into the air and vanished.

I stared at the spot where it’d been a moment ago. “Now what?”

“Now, we wait.”

With the phoenix gone, it was time to head back, but we’d only made it to the third floor when I knew for sure that wasn’t what I wanted.

I wanted more time alone with Uri. I wanted to get to know him. To talk, to connect. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, and this mark on my soul…I had no idea how long I’d be able to avoid its effects or where I’d need to go to remove it.

The future was always uncertain, and the only thing I had control over was the now.

We made it down to the second floor before I gently took his hand and brought him to a halt.

He looked down at me with a small smile. “Are we staying?”

I nodded. “Yes. We’re staying.”

I polished off the cheese on toast and licked my fingers. “That was the best!”

Uri reached out and swiped his thumb across the corner of my mouth. “I have my skills.”

He certainly did. I was lucky to have guys who could cook…Not that Uri was one of my guys…yet. Almost.

Shit, I wanted him.

We’d been camped on the rug in front of the fireplace in the main lounge chatting, eating cheesy toast, and drinking tea for the past hour.

I’d always loved the sound of Uri’s voice, and it was becoming addictive. He’d seen so much, knew so much, and his stories of the time before filled my mind with wonder.

He’d walked among the people of the past, and yes, I knew that Az, Mal, and Conah were old too, but they reaped souls and killed monsters. It wasn’t their job to get close to humanity, but Uri had. He’d watched and learned. He’d felt humanity’s pain and rejoiced in its triumph, but despite his knowledge and experience, there was a purity and innocence about him that drew me to him.

I wanted to corrupt him. Fuck, maybe that was my demon nature. As he spoke, my gaze drifted to his neck and down to the V of his shirt. His golden skin stood out against the navy material, begging to be touched. My attention flicked to his biceps and toned forearms then down to his hands, perfectly formed, beautiful hands that I wanted all over my body.

Was it weird that I wanted to suck on his fingers?

I shook my head. Shit, it was his aura again, messing with me and heightening everything.

“Fee?” He lifted my chin with the crook of his finger and studied me with concern. “Are you okay?”

I smiled up at him. “A little aura drunk.”

The concern in his eyes melted to liquid heat. “Too aura drunk to consent to a kiss?”

The pulse in my throat jumped with excitement. “Not too drunk for that.”

His mouth brushed mine, once, twice, teasingly, but my body was wound up so tight I couldn’t take the slow path. I gripped his nape and claimed his mouth. He gasped, and that sound shot straight to my core as I reared up and pushed him back, slanting my mouth across his, licking and sucking on the vanilla flavor that his body seemed to exude.

He groaned and pushed me back so he could sit up.

I broke the kiss, panting. “Shit. I’m sorry. I—”

His wings materialized with a whoosh, and he bowed his head, shoulders heaving. Thank God we weren’t sitting too close to the fire. But we were close enough for the light of the flames to turn his silver wings orange and red. He looked like an avenging angel of fire, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. He was fucking gorgeous.

But he wasn’t looking at me. I’d done something wrong. I’d pushed too hard too fast. Fuck.

“Uri?”

“Give me a minute,” he said. “This happens sometimes when a celestial is…aroused.”

I’d done this. I’d brought out his wings, and they were magnificent. My fingers itched to touch them. I needed to touch them, so I did. I ran my hands over the silken feathers, reveling in the sensation against my sensitized palms and fingertips.

He shuddered and made a strange guttural sound that made me want to press my thighs together to quell the ache.

I stroked him again, down to his shoulders, running my fingers along the ridges of muscles that melted into his back.

“Fee…” He grabbed my hips and hauled me against his groin, up against his arousal, and held me there for a long beat, pulsing against my core, before burying his head in my cleavage. His tongue lapped at my skin, licking the curve of my breast, desperate for purchase.

I gripped his wings and rolled my hips against him. His hips jerked to meet me, two hard taps that had me crying out, and then he tore my shirt off. His hands found my breasts, his mouth found my nipples, and I lost my train of thought. There was nothing but heat, wetness, and friction, in all the right places.

But I wanted control. I wanted to taste him. I gripped his head and pushed him away before grabbing the neck of his shirt.

“Take it off.” My words were a hungry growl.

His amber eyes, like dark honey, fixed on my mouth. His wings vanished, and he closed his eyes as if in pain before peeling off his shirt to reveal golden, smooth perfection.

“My turn.” I pushed him onto his back and dropped my head to his neck, sucking and licking my way down to his chest. I pinched his nipples, and he thrust his groin up in reflex.

“Fee…Fuck.”

The curse word falling from his lips was an aphrodisiac. I needed more. I wanted to make him lose control, to curse and groan and pant. I moved down, tracing the ridges of his abdomen with my tongue until I hit the waistband of his joggers. I looked up at him to find him watching me, his expression tight, his eyes like desperate flames. I pulled the joggers down inch by inch, and he sucked in a sharp breath as they snagged on his arousal for a moment.

Ah, there he was, trapped in black boxer briefs, the ridged length of him visible through the thin fabric. I freed him with my mouth, peeling the cotton down his thick length, and then licked a trail back up to the tip. I swirled my tongue over the head of his cock, and he cried out, a thick guttural sound that had my clit throbbing.

I took him into my mouth.

He was sweet nectar, honed muscle, and taut flesh. He was light with the dangerous edge of darkness I craved. I worked him, reveling in the sounds he made and the way his hands grasped at the rug on either side of him, as if he was desperately trying to hold himself together, as if he was trying not to unravel.

I wanted him to fracture for me.

I held him captive, feasting on him until his fingers dove into my hair, and he hauled me up, crushing his mouth to mine. He flipped us so he was on top, his powerful body pinning me to the rug as he explored my mouth with his tongue.

I was on fire for him, melting against him, needing to get closer, needing him closer.

He softened the kiss and broke it. “Too many clothes,” he said against my mouth, then proceeded to strip me of my leggings until I was naked except for my knickers.

He sat back, and I caught the flash of doubt in his eyes.

A little of the fire in my blood died. “Uri?” I tried to sit up. “We don’t have to do this if you—”

He kissed me hard on the mouth to silence me. “I want to. I want you so much it scares me.”

Wait…Did celestials have sex? I mean, was that even a thing? Was this his first time?

“Uri…have you done this before?”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “No. Celestials aren’t permitted to…Although some do…I just…I’ve…I’ve seen it done.”

Oh, God. He was a virgin. A celestial virgin. “I would never have guessed.” I stroked his cheek. “You’re a natural.”

He chuckled, and our breath mingled. “Thank you, but I don’t think I am.”

“But you are. You know how to touch me. To kiss me. Uri, you turn me on so fucking much. I want you so bad.” I reached down between us and stroked him. “I want you inside me.”

His mouth parted, and his sweet aura washed over me, heading straight to the apex of my thighs and making me even wetter.

“Touch me.” I lifted my hips and pushed down my knickers. “Feel how much I want you.”

He slipped his fingers between my fold and groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

“Say that again.”

“Fuck.”

I lifted my hips, and he slid his fingers into me.

“Yes. Oh, yes. Like that, stroke me like that.”

He was a quick study, and I was panting hard and grinding against his hand, ready to come, but I wanted him inside me when I did. I flipped us again so that I was on top of him.

He looked up at me, his eyelids heavy with desire. I grasped his arousal, reveling in the eager pulse that ran through it.

I pushed up on my knees so I was straddling him. He looked down my body with a gaze hooded with desire, and then reached out and touched my panties. The material vanished, leaving me slick and bare.

Well, well. The celestial had moves. I gave him a wicked smile and then lowered myself onto him inch by inch, watching the play of emotion on his face as he entered me. His chest rose and fell erratically, and his skin began to glow.

“Oh, fuck. Oh…” He gripped my thighs and rolled his hips, pushing up into me. I bit my bottom lip, forcing myself to remain still and give him a moment to adjust to this sensation of my body closing around him.

He locked gazes with me and licked his luscious lips.

“You ready?”